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CHS team members advance in UIL Congress

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CHS UIL Congress team

Clarendon High School students competed in the Congress regional competition on November 7 and advanced to state.

This was the first year that Clarendon had competed in this UIL event. In Congress competition, students caucus in committees, deliver formal discourse on the merits and disadvantages of each piece of legislation, and vote to pass or defeat the measures they have examined.

Parliamentary procedure forms the structure for the discourse, and students extemporaneously respond to others’ arguments throughout a session.

Wes Shaw earned first place to advance to state, and Cutter Seay earned third place to advance to state. Zane Cruse earned first alternate to state, and Ronan Howard was chosen as the student Presiding Officer.

Others competing from Clarendon were Zak Roberts and Rowdy Bebout.

The state contest will be January 10 and 11 at the University of Texas and the Texas State Capital.

Clarendon hits sales tax record

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The City of Clarendon hit a new high for sales tax revenue last week when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar delivered November allocations to local governments.

The city received $61,362.03 for the month, an increase of 18.85 percent over the $51,628.89 from November 2022.

The allocation not only reversed several months of declining sales tax revenues but also set a new record for the city for the highest monthly revenue. The previous monthly high was set in May 2019 with an allocation of $56,593.

November allocations to local governments are based on sales made in September by businesses that report tax monthly and on sales made in July, August and September by quarterly filers.

Clarendon is now slightly ahead for the calendar year-to-date sales tax revenues at $466,997.49, an increase of 0.22 percent compared to the same point one year ago.

Hedley’s sales tax allocation for November was down 9.57 percent to $1,697.73, but the city is still ahead for the calendar year-to-date, up 4.5 percent at $12,123.32.

Howardwick also was down for the month, falling 19.07 percent to $1,933.96. The lakeside city is almost even for the year-to-date, up 0.17 percent at $20,543.41.

Statewide, Hegar delivered $1.2 billion in sales tax allocations, 1.9 percent more than a year ago.

Chamber launches holiday promotions

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Local merchants and the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce are planning to make shopping at home pay off during Small Business Saturday and throughout the holiday season.

The second annual “Shop Small Big Christmas” promotion from the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce will put a grand total of $550 in Chamber Christmas Cash in the hands of lucky winners who shop with local merchants.
Sign-ups begin Friday, November 24, for drawings that will be held for $100 on December 1, 8, and 15; and the big $250 giveaway will be held December 22.

As of Tuesday afternoon, participating merchants included Amanda’s Country Soaps, Brake Time, Broken Road Liquor, Cornell’s Country Store, Country Bloomer’s Flowers & Gifts, Every Nook & Cranny, Henson’s, J&W Lumber, Lashe’s by Holly, Lowe’s Family Center, Mulkey Theatre, Mike’s Pharmacy, Rambling Ranch Boutique, REFZ Sports Bar & Grill, Saye’s Flying A Tack, Whistle-Stop, and Wicked Fast Attire.

Additional merchants are being added, and Chamber members wishing to participate can call Chamber President Ashlee Estlack at 806-662-4687.

To enter, shoppers will fill out an entry at local participating merchants. The Chamber will gather them up each Friday morning, and hold the drawings live on the Chamber’s Facebook.

Enter as many times as you shop locally, so shop often. Entries stay in the hopper each week.

Several businesses will be open during Small Business Saturday, November 25, with in store specials, refreshments, and more.

Also, during Thanksgiving weekend, the official Courthouse Lighting will take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. and includes visits with Santa Claus, music, hot cocoa from the Lions Club, and the lighting of the courthouse square.

Shop at home this holiday season and remember the important role your local merchants play in keeping your community strong.
Visit the Chamber’s Facebook page or ClarendonTX.com/Christmas for details on which businesses will be open.

District Champs

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The Clarendon Broncos secured the District Championship Friday night in Wellington, beating the Skyrockets, 36-20. They will face Boys Ranch this Friday at 7p.m. at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo for the bi-district title. The Clarendon defense was solid last week as seen here with Broncos Grant Haynes, Jaxon McAnear, Easton Frausto, and Colton Caudle working together to stop an advancing Skyrocket. See our complete coverage on page six.

The Clarendon Broncos had one plan last Friday, and that was to go into Wellington with a big win on their minds and get on top early. They were able to execute their game plan exactly the way they wanted and stormed the Rockets 36-20.

The Broncos not only won the District Championship. They earned the number one seed in the playoffs which will pit them against Boys Ranch Friday, November 10, at 7:00 p.m. at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo.

Quay Brown earned the first touchdown for the Broncos early in the game to give the Broncos the first six points of the game before Colton Caudle hit the mark with a touchdown. Caudle did a great job all night long on both sides of the ball. He posted a 90-yard touchdown and was able to strip the football on a QB sack to give the Broncos another possession.

“We felt good about our game plan all week,” first year head coach Aaron Wampler said. “These guys did a terrific job all night long.”

Wellington was favored in the match up, but the Broncos stayed strong defensively. They held the Rockets scoreless until the end of the first quarter. The score at the break was 22-12.

Senior Lyric Smith played a great game finishing with 318 yards passing on 12 of 20 attempts and three touchdowns. He racked up 90 yards on 21 carries and found the endzone two additional times. He broke through the line several times on the night to gather up 19 tackles and one interception.

Caudle had four receptions for 184 yards that resulted in two touchdowns. Caudle was strong on defense with 10 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble. Quay Brown made good on three catches from Smith for 78 yards and the first touchdown of the game. Grant Haynes turned in a good game with 10 tackles on defense.

The entire Bronco team contributed to the win and played strong against the Skyrockets. They will go into the game with Boys Ranch with the same determination Friday night.

AgriLife Extension hosts Ag Literacy Day

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5th grade students from Clarendon, Hedley, Memphis, Claude, Silverton, and Valley enjoy a day learning about agriculture hosted by the Donley County AgriLife Extension.

The Donley County AgriLife Extension hosted fifth grade students from six area schools last Tuesday, October 31, for their 20th Ag Literacy Day.

A total of 138 students from Clarendon, Hedley, Memphis, Claude, Silverton, and Valley attended the event with 29 high school students helping from Clarendon, Memphis, and Silverton.

County Agent Leonard Haynes said the students learned about agriculture from ten separate stations covering the following topics: beef cattle, small grain production, small animal livestock, rainfall effects / soil conservation, groundwater conservation, peanut production, cotton production, tractor PTO safety, stream bed formation, and Texas outdoor and game laws.

“Our overall goal is to educate kids as we have more kids away from farms who think everything originates at the grocery store,” Haynes said. “We show them that from the time they woke up today, agriculture touches their lives from clothes to deodorant to brushing their teeth. So many things come from ag byproducts.”

Demonstrations at the stations included how a cotton gin works, the effects of soil erosion, how flowing water affects topography, how small grains are milled for food, where different cuts of meat come from, and more.

Haynes said the program started as a shared activity between the Donley and Hall county extension services, but now invites schools from other areas to participate.

In addition to the ten stations students rotated through, all students were presented with a powerline and farm safety demonstration from Greenbelt Electric Cooperative, and the Southwest Mobile Dairy also presented a live milking demonstration to highlight where milk and milk byproducts come from.

American Legion to honor veterans in Hedley

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American Legion Adamson-Lane Post 287 members this week will place American flags on the graves of 250 veterans buried in the Rowe Cemetery in Hedley.

The flags will be placed on the graves on Friday November 10, at 9:00 a.m. in honor of departed veterans who have served this country’s military. Then, on Monday, November 13, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., the Post will hold its annual Veterans Day service at the Hedley Lions Club building.

The program will be led by members of the post and will include the raising of the colors, the National Anthem, the Pledge, and honoring the missing in action and prisoners of War still unaccounted for. The key address will be given by Will Thompson. The program will be concluded with the playing of taps.

Presbyterians bless Arena of Life Church with building

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An historic church building will begin a new chapter this Sunday when the Arena of Life Cowboy Church holds its grand opening in the former First Presbyterian Church at Fourth and Parks this Sunday, November 5, at 10:30 a.m.

The Arena of Life Cowboy Church sets up for services in the former First Presbyterian Church with a grand opening set for this Sunday. Courtesy Photo

With their congregation dwindling, Presbyterians recently made the decision to disband and donate their 1929 building to the Cowboy Church.

“I was surprised but extra excited,” Cowboy Church Pastor Bunk Skelton said of his reaction to the offer by Presbyterian Pastor Nancy Ruff. “I’m not one to all at once get real gung-ho about something, so I asked for time with the Lord. But the more I sought the Lord, the more I thought we couldn’t say no.”

Ruff said the Presbyterian congregation had just gotten to a point to where it was no longer viable to continue, but they had hope that they could bless another church.

“It’s not easy to close a church,” Ruff said. “But in dealing with those emotions of closing our church, we are richly blessed that God gave us the opportunity to give our building to the Arena of Life Cowboy Church. We are so excited to be a part of God’s blessing. We’re really thrilled they accepted our offer and that our legacy will continue.”

While the Presbyterian Church had a long history in Clarendon dating back to 1899, the Cowboy Church is relatively new for the community. It was founded January 5, 2013, and moved into the former Eads’ Furniture building on Kearney Street in May of 2014. Since that time, the church has been dreaming of building their own church and has even had six acres donated to it east of town on US 287.

“We’re not trashing the idea of our own new building,” Skelton said. “We’re still working toward that. This will just make it easier as we can put our lease payments into our building fund now.”

Speaking of renting their previous location, the pastor had kind words for their landlord there, saying Virginia Patten had been extremely good to the church through the years.

Skelton said his congregation first thought of making changes to the Presbyterian building but changed their minds.

“The first impulse was to make changes to make it fit us,” he said, “but then we didn’t really want to. We just make small changes to make it work for us, which mostly has amounted to running some electricity.”

The new owners are also opening up previously covered over windows on the front doors of the Presbyterian building.
The Cowboy Church held its first services in the building last Sunday, October 29, but it’s official grand opening is this weekend.

“We’re very, very excited and grateful and thankful that they have allowed us to carry on the ministry of the gospel in this church,” Skelton said.

The Presbyterian building will give the Cowboy Church more room and allow it to offer more Sunday school classes. The church has been having its youth meetings on Wednesday nights and its adult Bible study on Thursday nights, but now those activities will both be held on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m.

Skelton is inviting the community to join them as they celebrate the new location of the Cowboy Church this weekend with Sunday School at 9:30 and the service at 10:30.

Also, the Presbyterians are not completely gone from the building. Ruff said Skelton is allowing her to continue her women’s Bible study in the building. It’s a testimony to how close the community of faith is in Clarendon.

“We’re in a super good community,” Skelton said. “When He calls you to a place, He provides for you; and we’ve seen that over and over.”

DCCF now taking grant applications

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The Donley County Community Fund is now accepting applications from qualified non-profit organizations for up to $1,500 grant to be awarded this fall.

Those eligible to apply for the grants include local governments, schools, and non-profit organizations holding a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service. All grant applicants must be from Donley County.

Grant applications for any amount up to $1,500 must be received by Friday, November 24, at 5 p.m..

To receive a grant application and determine your organization’s eligibility to apply, contact Jacob Fangman 806-206-5737 or jacobfangman@yahoo.com. Applications are available from Fangman at Herring Bank or at the Clarendon Visitor Center.

The Donley County Community Fund is an affiliate fund of the Amarillo Area Foundation (AAF) with the focus of building an Endowed Legacy for the entire county for the benefit of future generations.

Election to decide 14 ballot proposals

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Donley County voter will join other Texans next Tuesday, November 7, in deciding the fate of 14 proposed amendments to the state constitution.

Early voting concludes this Friday at the Donley County Courthouse Annex with extended hours 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

Voting on Tuesday will also be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Donley County voters in Precinct 303 will cast ballots at the First Baptist Church in Hedley, Precinct 101 votes at the Annex, and all other county voters cast ballots in the Courthouse.

The proposed amendments are also explained by the Texas Tribune at https://bit.ly/3FGW15M.

According to the Tribune, “many of the proposed amendments would create or alter funds to support: Higher education research, Water infrastructure, Gas-fueled power plants, Broadband infrastructure, Maintenance and creation of state parks.

“Several others would address taxes by: Raising the homestead exemption for homeowners from $40,000 to $100,000, Creating some tax exemptions for medical equipment and child-care facilities, Banning lawmakers from imposing “wealth taxes” without voter approval.

“Other amendments would affect Texans in certain professions by: Granting retired teachers cost-of-living raises, Raising the mandatory retirement age for state judges, Protecting generally accepted farming and ranching practices from state and local regulation.”

REFZ to open downtown Nov. 1

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Restaurant owner Ricardo Santillan stands in the dining room of REFZ Sports Bar & Grill Tuesday morning as the business gets ready for its grand opening next week.

A new downtown restaurant will hold its grand opening next week after several months of construction and remodeling.

REFZ Sports Bar & Grill, located at US 287 and Kearney Street, will open its doors to the public on Wednesday, November 1, and owner Ricardo Santillan is just as ready as the community is.

“It’s been hard and definitely a lot of work,” Santillan said, “but it’s also been very exciting watching the process of taking a building where there was nothing and what it has turned into.”

For eight months, Santillan has overseen a complete overhaul of the former Clarendon Steakhouse building, remodeling the front end, ripping out and installing a new kitchen, remodeling bathrooms, and more. With the final pieces going into place this week, Santillan is planning an invitation-only “soft opening” only in the next few days to make sure everything is ready for Wednesday.

REFZ has hired 24 people and plans to be open seven days a week. Its hours will be Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Happy hour will be everyday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., and weekday $8 lunch specials will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In addition to a full and varied menu, REFZ will have a full bar, including mixed drinks; 16 big screen TVs showing all kinds of sports; and seating for 136 people.

Santillan currently has five of his new hires from Clarendon working at his first REFZ location in Guymon, Okla., which has been in business for six years.

“We want everyone to come enjoy themselves here as place of entertainment,” Santillan said. “Come with your family and hang out and have a good time.”

The process of bringing a restaurant to downtown has been a long one. The Clarendon Economic Development Corporation first purchased the building in 2015 after it was heavily damaged by an automobile and has made significant investments in the building since that time to make it attractive as a potential restaurant. Discussions with Santillan began in November 2022 with an agreement reached in February 2023 and construction starting the following month.

“It’s been great working with the CEDC,” Santillan said. “Those guys helped me all along the way. They have been gracious and supportive of me, and I’ve been thankful for that. I could not have done this project without the CEDC, and it’s one of the main reasons I decided to do it.”

CEDC President Brandon Frausto is also very happy to see the REFZ project come to fruition.

“We are excited to have REFZ be a part of our community,” Frausto said. “This has been a goal of the CEDC for quite some time. I hope this helps build momentum as we move toward our vision for the future of Clarendon.”

Santillan is also looking to the future.

“It’s going to work,” Santillan said. “It’s taken a lot of time, energy, and investment by all of us (Santillan’s business and the CEDC), but we’re doing it for the town as well. We both saw a need for the town, and now we hope everyone comes and enjoys it.”

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